Monthly Archives: March 2011

Last week I attended the first-ever show devoted to edible gardens. It combined vegetable and fruit, with bees, chickens and pigs, so had something for all of us who enjoy growing and producing our own food. Wherever you looked there were kits and containers for growing veg in small spaces; mini-greenhouses, seed companies and demonstrations in the show’s kitchen and

Just a quick apolitical note to appreciate the way in which George Osborne recognised the critical importance of UK manufacturing to the economic recovery in the 2011 budget. We’re still trying to understand if there will be any financial benefit to Hozelock, but it’s nice to be appreciated ! We can’t exist on a 100% service economy. “Invented in Britian

Lovely parcel in the post  – three bare-root roses. The roses (ordered from David Austin, www.davidaustinroses.com) were tightly packed and ready for planting. Mild days in March meant I was raring to go and get them in the ground, but where to plant them in my small garden? Much depends on the individual habit of the roses. First out was

I love growing herbs – they are such versatile garden plants. They look good in various garden situations – in borders, in containers and in the vegetable garden. And they are useful and tasty in the kitchen, chopped to add to salads, in omelettes, stews and in sauces. Mint was the first herb I tasted as a child. We had

It looks as if the sun is finally starting to come out, which means we’ll soon be starting to emerge from our own winter hibernations, hopefully a little more awake than when we went in. That means we’re ready to start enjoying the garden once again. The month of March welcomes the start of spring and therefore is the best

I am back from a couple of days at the coast in Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast. The sun shone, but the wind was chilly, so it was a surprise to see the green shoots of some of our wild coastal plants showing through on the shingle beach.  Among these early shoots were those of the horned poppy (Horminum glaucum)

I was relaxing after lunch with the newspaper today, with the warm spring sunshine beaming in through the patio doors ; when Mrs M suggested (strongly) that today was an ideal day to build the pond I had been promising for the last two years. Our three kids (8,6+2) re-inforced the suggestion by repeating the suggestion at full tilt until I

With prices rising every year in the United Kingdom it can be hard to keep up with the daily cost of living. When it comes to staying healthy and eating your greens, why spend your precious pounds at the supermarket on purchasing vegetables when you can simply grow your own? This is not just for all you outdoorsy types either,

My seasonal shrub is the camellia. They are amazing plants, with shiny evergreen foliage and, at this time of year, outdoors, great fat buds are ready to burst. I have not always been successful with them but my mother had a tiny London garden where she grew them in large containers. She packed them into her small patio, loving their

We’ve just finished uploading 16 of our latest ‘how to’ Phil TV videos to YouTube.  The ‘how to’ films cover a wide range of topics and were specifically chosen based on the number of queries we get about a particular topic. The film clips include how to install one of our new Auto Reels, how to attach a hose to a garden or